Counseling
Yohan tested a few of her reactions — waving a hand before her eyes, among other things — then withdrew the pendant once more.
"Honestly. You do make things difficult."
Having plunged Eileen fully into hypnosis, Yohan muttered the complaint under his breath.
He was in a rather awkward position at the moment. Originally, he had been cultivating a different girl entirely — but she had caught him in a private rendezvous with that one, and he had been forced to change targets on the spot.
Hypnotizing a subject and reshaping them to one's liking was an exhausting process. It drained a great deal of mental energy, which made handling two people at once extremely difficult.
He could do it if he had to, of course, but the number of things that would need careful calibration would multiply. Suggestions could tangle. And if either subject's hypnosis ever broke, the fallout would be several times harder to manage.
So one person at a time. Always.
That was the iron rule of a man who lived meticulously and thoroughly in all things.
"Because of you, I had to give up the girl I was working on before, Eileen. Releasing the suggestions, wiping the memories — it took a lot out of me. I'll still have to check in on her now and then to make sure nothing surfaces. Still, it's not a terrible situation. You were one of my target candidates from the start, after all. Your grades are excellent, your profile is high — I'd written you off early for those very reasons."
Eileen was an honor student. Her looks ranked among the academy's finest, and the faculty doted on her. Touching a subject that visible was dangerous if anything went wrong, which was precisely why Yohan had set his expectations aside from the beginning.
The girl he had been working on before was thoroughly ordinary by comparison. Looks a little above average, grades middling to low. He had deliberately chosen the student with the lowest profile possible — and now he almost regretted the time he had wasted dithering over the selection.
Eileen was a flower of the most dangerous kind. Dangerous, and therefore all the more alluring. Beautiful flowers always came with thorns. But strip those thorns away carefully enough, and the honey that remained would be exquisite.
"Can you hear me?"
"Yes…"
"Let's start by taking off your clothes. We'll go step by step."
"My clothes…?"
"You're very comfortable right now. But there's one thing that bothers you. That foreign matter wrapped around your body… Every time the fabric touches your skin, it itches. It feels as though something is squeezing your chest tight."
"Nnh… haah."
Listening blankly to Yohan's words, Eileen suddenly wrapped her arms around her own shoulders — as if her whole body itched and constricted beyond endurance.
"Your skin itches so badly you could go mad. It feels like being locked in a prison. Being as you were born is comfortable and natural. You have to get these clothes off right now. This horrible restraint is tightening around your entire body."
"Ah… ahh… hnn…"
He whispered it calmly, without rise or fall, but with relentless persistence — and Eileen's body began to twitch and tremble. Her breathing roughened. Her brow furrowed as though she were trapped in an unpleasant nightmare.
Yet all she could do was repeat the thought that she needed to undress. The method of actually doing so had been entirely erased from her mind. Yohan whispered the next instructions to her, slowly.
"First, take off the outer top. Pull your arms free and set it on the sofa…"
"…"
"Next, the shirt underneath. Undo the buttons one by one from the top… Unzip the waist, and step out of the skirt… One layer left."
"Hah… hahh."
Eileen drew a deep breath, her expression easing somewhat. She was left in nothing but her undergarments. Plain, unadorned lingerie strained to cover her most intimate places. The swell of her breasts, full enough to burst free, and the soft mound between her thighs seemed to beg Yohan to take her then and there.
The narrow curve of her waist and the generous flare of her hips drew the eye. Her body had been sculpted with an almost obsessive perfection. Seeing that figure emerge from its shell, Yohan found himself freshly impressed. She tended to wear loose clothing, so he hadn't realized — Eileen's chest was surprisingly full.
"Let's take the bra off first. Undo the clasp and lower your hands."
"Nnh… nnnh…"
"Lower your hands."
"I… I can't… that's…"
Having managed to unhook the clasp with difficulty, Eileen suddenly showed a flash of resistance. The bra still hung from her stiff nipples by the barest edge, barely covering her breasts.
"Lower your hands. If you don't obey the voice, you'll feel terribly anxious, and a sharp ache will bloom in your chest."
"Ah… aahh…"
At last Eileen made a sound close to a moan and cast the bra aside. She twitched intermittently, radiating unease — so unstable she looked ready to surface at any moment.
Any further might still be too much.
Still, getting her bra off on the first attempt was already a remarkable result. With strongly resistant subjects, even the clothes themselves could be a struggle, never mind the undergarments.
Fortunately, Eileen was highly suggestible. Handling a dangerous target was already delicate work — the fact that this particular target took to suggestion so readily was a genuine stroke of luck.
"There. The itching gradually fades. No one else exists in this place. Undressing is nothing to be ashamed of. Your body grows comfortable again. Soft and warm, as though you're lying on a cloud. Every worry, every concern dissolves, and not even a fragment of anxiety remains…"
He murmured variations of the same words into her ear, over and over.
Yohan worked steadily to soothe the anxious Eileen. In this kind of work, the line was everything. If he let excitement get the better of him and crossed it — if he woke her now — everything would come to nothing.
Through painstaking effort, Eileen's raised shoulders settled again. Her stiff nipples softened. The trembling of her body quieted.
From her blankly parted lips, saliva dripped in slow drops onto her chest.
Those full breasts and that narrow waist were deliciously tempting. He wanted nothing more than to seize those breasts hard enough to hurt and drive himself into that pristine body — but Yohan held himself in check.
Rushing only ruined things. If you wanted what you desired, you had to maintain a leisurely, composed attitude.
Fortunately Eileen was a highly suggestible talent, and claiming that body no longer seemed so distant a prospect.
Time was growing late.
The hour to wake her was approaching.
Yohan redressed her, then decided to plant a few more suggestions before bringing her out of it.
"Focus on my voice. The sentences you hear from now on will sink deep into your heart and become your guiding principles."
"Guiding… principles."
Yohan smiled gently as he whispered.
"Eileen, do you know who the person in front of you is?"
"The infirmary teacher…"
"His name?"
"Yo… han…"
"Open your eyes wide and imprint it. Not anyone else — the Yohan before you. He is someone you can trust completely."
"Someone I can… trust…?"
"One of the few people at this academy you can truly rely on. That is Teacher Yohan. Kind and gentle, someone you can lean on."
"Someone I can lean on…"
Good, Yohan murmured softly.
"Now keep repeating this sentence in your mind. Chew on it over and over, again and again."
"Teacher… someone I can trust… kind and gentle…"
Eileen struggled to parrot the words he had planted. Yohan took his time, patiently letting her memorize the phrase — whispering it again whenever any part went astray.
Having roughly finished the work and about to wake her, he paused.
"Shall I add just one more suggestion?"
Leaving things as they were felt a little dull.
There was still some time before the dormitory curfew check.
"Eileen, focus on my voice once more. From now on, every night, you will…"
His expression was sly and lecherous. But the voice that whispered was calm and gentle. There was no need to hurry. To cultivate a thorned flower exactly as he wished, he planted the suggestions slowly, carefully.
The next moment, I sucked in a sharp breath and opened my eyes.
"Ah…?"
When I came to, the sunset was already painting the window. I checked the clock hanging on the infirmary pillar — the hour and minute hands ticked away in positions that were wildly off from what I remembered.
Had that much time really passed? What on earth…
"Ugh."
A sudden throb started in my head. The moment I pressed my fingers to my temple, Yohan spoke up in a worried tone.
"Does your head hurt? Shall I prescribe you something for it?"
"Pardon? Oh — no, I'm fine. But why is it so late…?"
"You dozed off during our session, so I simply left you be. You looked so exhausted I didn't have the heart to wake you."
"What? Y-you should have just woken me. I'm so sorry."
"Not at all. There's nothing to apologize for. Don't give it another thought — if you're tired from now on, feel free to come here and rest. And since today's session was cut short, I think you'll need to come back once more tomorrow. Would that be all right?"
"Yes, that's fine."
"You're busy enough as it is. I'm sorry to take up more of your time."
"No! Falling asleep during counseling was my fault."
Falling asleep out of nowhere during a counseling session was a little strange, but… I didn't need to worry about it. After all, Teacher Yohan was an extremely kind and gentle person. One of the few people at this academy I could trust completely — there was no room for doubt. The idea of him doing anything strange to me was simply unimaginable.
"Hmm. The suggestion seems to have settled in nicely. Her suggestibility really is exceptionally high."
"Pardon?"
"Just talking to myself. Here — take these headache pills. I'm giving them to you free of charge, so don't refuse."
"What? I-I'm really fine, though…"
"Eileen. I won't say it twice. Just take them."
The tone of his voice shifted completely. That low, settled register felt somehow threatening. Under the force of it, I flinched and shrank back. Somehow, I felt as though I absolutely had to obey.
"I-I'll do that."
"Good. When you get to your room, you must take that medicine. Understood? One pill a day — make sure you don't forget."
"I under… stand. I'll do that."
"What a good girl."
Only then did he drop the coercive air and smile. And just like that, I felt myself relax and grow comfortable again. He stroked my hair a few times — and strangely, it didn't feel unpleasant at all.
Something…
Something was wrong.
I kept getting the feeling that something was going terribly awry.
This body — Eileen's Intuition — was ringing alarm bells with frantic intensity. If things continued like this, something truly disastrous might happen. That was the premonition rising in me.
But what, exactly, was going wrong? I couldn't pin down the source of the unease no matter how hard I tried. All I could do was turn over a few useless theories and tilt my head in confusion.
"Ugh."
The headache surged again. My condition really must have been terrible. I was glad I'd accepted the pills from the teacher.
The moment I reached the dorm, I filled a glass with water and swallowed a pill with a gulp.
"Ah…"
Just like that, the headache vanished. The splitting pain at my temples went quiet in an instant. If anything, a cool, refreshing sensation took its place.
Did the medicine have some kind of analgesic effect? The results were so outstanding they bordered on uncanny.
Of course. There was a reason he'd emphasized taking it so strongly.
With the pain gone, I finally felt like I could breathe. My Intuition had stopped sounding the alarm as well. It must have just been the pain after all.
I finished getting ready for bed, changed into my nightclothes, and threw myself onto the mattress.
I was staring blankly at the dark ceiling, about to close my eyes, when—
"Somehow… I can't fall asleep…"
It was strange.
My head felt sharp and clear — and then, somehow, a growing itch began to stir low in my belly, until I could no longer stand it.
"Nnh…"
I moaned at a sensation I had never felt in my life.
At first it was only a faint tickle. Before I knew it, my entire body had grown hot, as though I were in heat.
Beneath the covers, my hips began to squirm. At last my aimless fingers found their way between my legs. The entire sequence had happened unconsciously.
"Hahk…"
The moment my index finger brushed the slightly damp cleft, a cute little sound slipped out of me unbidden.
Somehow, I felt as though I absolutely had to masturbate before I could sleep.
Swept up in that impulsive lust, I slowly began to move my fingers.
Squelch…
"Hnn…!"